Vacuum sander



Sept. 23, 1930. A, PRATTE 1,776,688

VACUUM SANDER I Filed May 9, 1930 Patented Sept. 23, 1930 PATENT OFFICE CHARLES A. PRAITE, OFjDENVER, COLORADO VACUUM snnnnn Application filed Ma 9, 1930. Serial 110,450,983.

This invention relates to improvementsvin vacuum air'sanders ofthe type described and clalrned in United States Letters PatentNo. 953,228 granted tonne-on March 29, 1910.

5 In the operation of railway locomotives,

as well as electric street cars and other vehicles thatrun onsteel rails, it is'often neces- "sary to sand'the track in order to "obtain the necessary friction for pulling the load, and

7510 for this purpose locomotives are provided g with-a sand box located at the top of the boiler; This sand boxis connected with pipes that run down adjacent the drive wheels to a point close to the "rails and when it is necessary to. sand the'rai'ls, the engineer opens a vialve'thatreleases'airinto the pipes and this "in turn conveys sand 'through the pipes and j onto the rails.

' In the p atent above identified, Ihave shown W720 and described a sanderithat i'sprovided with nozzles that correspond to the nozzles of ordinary injectors and these nozzlesare con- I nected with the compressed air system in such'a way that when air is supplied to the nozzle, sand will beconv'eyed from the sand box and blown into the space in front of the driving wheel the rail on which it is resting p I 1 It has been found from experience that d 1": .thetypeto which this invention 1] relates are liable to become clogged, due to the fact that the sand will pack'when it is not used for some time, and also due to the further fact' that duringoperation moisture en- 5 taps th sander andthis causes thesand to adhere to such aniextent that it interferes. some t what with the operation.

It is the objcctof this invention to produce an improved sanding device of' the type described in the above identified patent, "wh ch shall beprovidedwith means for stirring the! sand, seas to'loosen the same, if it should be- I comeclogged and wli ichshall' also be so 0011- structed that the air will enter through one of the sanding pipes and Ptherefore'be taken from such a position that will bequite free i f from'moi'sture. 5

describe tlns inventlon so that In orderto r it can be readily understood; reference will be had to the accompanying drawing "in which "device in place thereon; and

that is located onthe top of the boiler. In this embodiment only a single sand box has been illustrated, but with very large locomotives it is quite frequently necessaryto employtwo san-d boxesr Apipe 4 connects with the sandbox near the bottom thereof an'd extends downwardly. Secured to the lower end of this pipe is my improved vacuum sanding device which has been indicated as a whole by reference numeral 5." A stop cock [6 isusuallyjlocated in the pipe 4, so that it can be closed if the sander'i's remove-d for repair. Myimproved sander-is preferably formed from east metalsuch ascast-iron or 'brassand isprovided with a central recess or cavity '7. Extending upwardly from the central portion of thesander is an inwardly threadedhub'S with which the lowerend of -"pipe' t is connected. Extending outwardly from opposite sides-are tubular projections *9 thatare internally threaded for the recepti on'of the connectors 10. Partitions 11 extend downwardly from thetop of the sander oneach side of the opening in hub 8. 9 The lower-edges of partitions 1'1 terminatesubstantially atthe level of the lower surface of the openings in tubular members 9. c The lower end of the recess terminates in 1a threaded opening 12 that is closed by means of a plug 13. This plug can be removed for" cleaning the interior of the sander whenever this is necessary. A U-shaped pipe l t-has its ends connected to the interior of the sander on opposite sides of the partitions l1 in the manner shown' in Fig. 2. Secured to the outer 'ends of a the connectors "10 are Ts 15. These Ts have the upwardly extending openings 16 provided with threads and connected with .these threaded openings are nozzles 17 Thelower ends of the nozzles extend down-'- the preferred embodiment thereof been a wardly to a point substantially at the level of the lower surface of the opening in connectors 10; The upper ends-0f the nozzles terminate in threaded plugs 18, which have their upper ends tapered as indicated by reference numeral 19. Secured to these plugs are sleeves 20. that form part of a pipe union andwhose upper ends have their outer surfaces threaded for the reception of the coupling members 21. The air pipes 22 are provided at their ends with fianges25 thatare engaged by the couplings 21 in themanner shown in Fig. 2. When air under pressure is admitted through pipes 22, itv will flow throughv the openings in the nozzle and emergejfro1n the latter at a high velocity an'd this emerging air sets up a suction which reduces the pressure within the sander; thereby causing air to flow into that side of thesander through the pipe 1 1. The air that enters through pipe 14 carries with, it sand from the recess 7 and this sand then. enters the opening 24, and is driven through the. pipe 25 and against the periphery of the drive wheel, thereby depositing it in the space between the drive wheeljand the rail in the manner shown in Fig. 1. Plug 13 is provided with an opening through-which a rod 26-extends. The inner end of this rod is. provided 1- with ahook 2 7 and the outeren-d with a ring 28 that serves as a handle. The engineer-,by

- grasping the handle 28 and-:movingand ro- I tati-n the rod can stir the sand so as to break vup any clogging of .the' latter. It will be noted that pipe 14 connectsthe interior. of the sanding. device on opposite sides of.;partition forevery little moisture. is introduced into .the sander. by the air-when thesander is op- 11 and that when air is admitted through oneof the nozzles so as to setup a suction a the manner described, air will enter that'partv of the-sander after it has passedthrou'ghthe pipe-14. The air. thatv passes-through pipe 14 will be drawn-upwardly through oneo'f the sand pipes 25 and as this pipeterminates a 'shirt. distance above the rail andJnear the drivewheel, the air is usually dry and therecrating. The air pipes 22extendto-a point within the cab and are. eachprovided with a I valve or stopcock 29.by means of which the engineer controls the flow of thefair. In the embodiment illustrated, only one side of. the

=,locomotive' hasbeen shown, but the other side is-also provided with asander locatedina corresponding position and both of these.

r sanders areconnectedwith the airpipes 22.

The sander can. be located close to the sand .box. as shownin. thedrawing, or itmay be 7 located underneath the running board 30, if

this should be found desirable. In the latter case, the pipe 4 may run between the boiler and the: boiler sheathing so as to be out of sight. 7

From the above description it will be seen thatI have produced a sander that isprovided with means for stirring the sand so as to break up any clogging whenever this occurs and which is also so constructed that the air that enters the same is taken through the sand pipes from a point near the surface of the rail and in this manner the air is quite free from moisture even. when the weather is damp or rainy.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

1. A sander provided with a centrally located depending sand trap through which the sandis delivered to the sander, lateral extensions, airnozzlesfor removing the sand from the trap on the e ector principle, and arranged to discharge across the. outer extremities ofsaid extensions; and meansfor stirring the sand.

2. A sander provided with a centrally locatedehamber,arranged by means ofa; de-a pending trap, to prevent the escape. oi the sand by gravity, extensions. connected with the chamber and leading, outwardly therefrom. in opposite. directions,- air nozzles mounted on the saidextensions and arranged to discharge air across the. outward extremities of the extensions, conduits connected with the sander for delivering sand. to the track and means. for stirring the sand in. the trap.

' 3.A sander comprising adependingisand trap,.ejectors located adjacent tothe trap for removing the sand therefrom, extensions'be- V tween. the trap. and. the ej ectors,v conduits. connected with the sander and: arranged to carry the sand to the track under the; influenceof the air pressure. fromthe ejectors: and mechanical meansfor stirring the sand.

4.; A sander comprising a trappedcasing having lateral outlets, air nozzles extending transversely of said outlets: and. at theouterextremities thereof the. casing having; an

tensions leading outwardly from-the trap,.an

air nozzle arranged. to: dischargealr transversely across the outer. extremity. of-each extension, .thesander beingprovidedlwitlrapertures located close: to the trap, the apertures on opposite sides being connected by azp ipe whereby outwardly directed aircurrentsare induced by the vacuum resulting from a. discharge of the air fronrthe nozzles,.substan-l tially as described.

. 6.. A sander. comprising acasing having a centrally located chamber formed in the lower part thereof, the casing having lateral extensions leading outwardly from. its upper portion, the casing having a depending flange located directly above the chamber whereby the sand is trapped in the chamber, openings located adjacent to the said flange and in communication with the interiors of the lateral extensions, the openings being also in communication with each other, and air nozzles arranged to deliver air across the outer extremities of the lateral casing extensions whereby air currents are induced-from said air currents outwardly for the purpose of removing sand from the trap and carrying it into the path of the air issuing from the noz zles, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflixmy signature.

CHARLES PRATTE. 

